Analysis of 42 cases of septicemia caused by an epidemic strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Evidence of resistance to vancomycin

Abstract

Recent case reports of vancomycin treatment failures in the United States, Japan, and France have prompted a retrospective analysis of 42 cases of septicemia caused by epidemic methicillin-resistant Stapyhlococcus aureus strain 15 (EMRSA-15), which is the most prevalent epidemic strain of methicillin-resistant S. aureus in the United Kingdom; all cases occurred in a teaching hospital in Manchester, United Kingdom, between 1994 and 1998. Mortality was lowest (4%) in patients with rifampin-susceptible isolates treated with vancomycin and rifampin. It rose to 38% in patients who were treated with both antibiotics but in whom the organism became resistant to rifampin during therapy, and it reached 78% in patients who had rifampin-resistant isolates or in whom rifampin was contraindicated (P